How to watch March Madness online

No TV? No problem. Here's how to watch the Final Four online

March Madness is arguably the most popular college sport event on TV, raking in money commensurate with the Super Bowl or World Cup. The high stakes of the tournament inevitably create some serious drama, turning even the most apathetic alumni into frenzied fanatics for their alma mater.

After weeks of tough games and upsets that have devastated many a fan bracket, March Madness is nearing the end. Villanova will face Michigan on Monday, April 2 for the NCAA National Championship game. Villanova vs. Michigan is scheduled for 9:20 p.m. ET/6:20 p.m. PT.

Whether you’re a massive college hoops fan, an NBA devotee looking for the next crop of superstars, or simply a person who randomly filled out a bracket in hopes of winning your office’s pool, March Madness has plenty of excitement and entertainment for everybody. Follow our list below to find all the best ways to catch the madness yourself.

Watching games on TV

The Final Four games are being broadcast exclusively via TBS this year. As such, you need to pay for a TV subscription that includes TBS, or one of the streaming services below to watch.

Streaming options

Ready for the madness, but don’t have a TV at home? Fear not, basketball fans. All you need to do is visit NCAA’s March Madness Live website for access to streaming games, up-to-the-second stats, and a quick look at the current bracket. CBS and Turner Broadcasting once again team up with the NCAA to offer comprehensive online coverage of all March Madness games, assuring even the most casual fans have the ability to keep up with all the action. Turner’s TNT, TBS, and TruTV join in on the streaming fun again this year, helping bring every Big Dance matchup to viewers across the globe.

This year, March Madness Live has a new wrinkle: Fast Break, a collaboration between AT&T and Lowe’s, is an NFL Red Zone-esque “whiparound” program which will allow fans to catch the first round of the tournament with real-time highlights, updates, live look-ins and commentary for each first-round matchup.

Seem too good to be true? Well, there is a catch. March Madness Live only allows viewers to freely stream the games broadcast on CBS — a total of 21 this year — without requiring a compatible cable or satellite subscription. Access to the TNT, TBS, or TruTV will be offered free for three hours with the service’s “live pass,” but anything more requires login credentials from providers like DirecTV, Dish Network, and Comcast. Click here to check your local channel listings and availability.

March Madness Live App

The NCAA also offers March Madness Live as an app capable of streaming each and every March Madness contest. Once again, any game playing on CBS remains streamable for free, while those taking place on TNT, TBS, or TruTV require a compatible cable or satellite subscription. The app, available for a litany of different devices (see below), is free.

According to the NCAA, Turner’s iStreamPlanet will power streams this year at 60 frames per second across Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Roku, and Xbox. We think that is probably contingent upon your home network. Plus, if you’re on Apple TV, you can watch up to three games simultaneously.

Compatible Devices

iOS devices

Android devices

Apple TV

Apple Watch

Amazon Echo devices

Amazon Fire tablets

Amazon Fire TV

Google Daydream

Mac/PC

Chromecast

Roku

Samsung Gear VR

Xbox One

Select smart TVs

Streaming services

If you want to watch the full slate of games without a pay TV subscription, your best bet is one of these streaming services, nominally known as the “big five.” Don’t worry about finding a package with CBS (since all the CBS games are available for free via March Madness Live, as mentioned above), but you ideally want all the Turner networks — TNT, TBS, and TruTV — if possible.

Each of these services will cost you some cash for a monthly subscription, but there are two important caveats there: First, they’re all going to be cheaper than similar cable or satellite packages, and second (and most importantly) each of them has a free trial of varying lengths, so if you’re new to the service you may not have to pay a dime. Follow below for details.

Sling TV

If you use Sling TV, you need a Sling Blue subscription ($25 per month), which gives you access to TNT, TBS, and TruTV. With that (in addition to the free CBS broadcasts), you will be able to watch every single tournament game. Sling Blue offers a seven-day free trial, so you won’t get the whole tournament for free, but frugal shoppers can always jump to another service once the trial expires.

PlayStation Vue

With PlayStation Vue, you need to check (just click the little pin icon next to the Start Streaming button in the upper-right corner) to see whether the Turner networks are available in your area. If so, you only need the $40 access plan (the cheapest Vue plan) to watch, and Vue also doubles its trial period over the competitors above, offering a weeklong free trial. PlayStation Vue is available on the following devices:

Compatible Devices

PlayStation 3

PlayStation 4

Android devices

Android TV

iOS devices

Apple TV

Roku devices

Amazon Fire devices

Google Chrome

Safari

Firefox

Microsoft Edge

Hulu with Live TV

Hulu’s Live TV streaming program, launched in mid-2017, just offers one channel package, for a $40 monthly fee. The Turner networks are available in most — if not all — markets, but head here and enter your ZIP code to see if you qualify. Hulu with Live TV offers a seven-day free trial, and is available on the following devices:

Compatible Devices

iOS devices

Amazon Fire TV devices

Android devices

Roku devices

Mac

PC

Apple TV

Google Chromecast

Xbox One

Xbox 360

YouTube TV

YouTube’s fairly new TV platform is only available in select supported locations, but it does have a distinct advantage: The service offers the longest free trial of all the choices on our list, boasting 30-days of free TV which will slide you right through the tournament. Barring that, the service costs $35 per month, which includes all three Turner channels. If your area isn’t listed, simply start the sign-up process and it will prompt you to enter your ZIP code.

Other resources

The NCAA March Madness YouTube channel provides fans with highlight clips and game updates throughout the entirety of the championship game. Visitors have access to pre- and postgame interviews, expert analysis, and plenty of in-game highlights and features. If watching every second of the game doesn’t fit into your evening schedule, periodically checking in via YouTube is a great way to keep up with the action.

An incredible resource for NCAA fans, Reddit’s dedicated college basketball forum has a constant stream of content submitted by fans. With tournament coverage on tap for the next several weeks, expect a bevy of content related to the Big Dance like team interviews, expert analysis, historical facts, and outrageous memes. Reddit’s loyal user base generates the site’s wealth of content, which is both a blessing and a curse.

You will find a slew of NCAA-themed pictures, videos, and even alternative streaming sites on game days, but again, we caution users to stay away from unsanctioned third-party sites. Disclaimer: While Reddit is an excellent resource for anything and everything March Madness, it’s incredibly easy to waste hours poking around the rest of the site. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Though not a video option, ESPN offers its signature play-by-play Gamecast presentation for all March Madness matchups. Just navigate to the NCAA scoreboard page via the ESPN website, click the game you would like to follow, and the related Gamecast window opens. This feature shows real-time events including every made dunk, every foul, and every buzzer-beating three. Gamecast also lists each team’s stats, highlight videos, and what is trending on Twitter.

LG is offering steep discounts on its critically acclaimed OLED TV models just in time for the Super Bowl, letting discerning viewers watch their favorite athletes with higher picture quality than ever.

There are more options for media streamers than ever, so it’s more difficult to pick the best option. But that’s why we're here. Our curated list of the best streaming devices will get you online in no time.

A vast arsenal of devices exists to allow sending anything on your mobile device to your TV. Our in-depth guide shows you how to mirror content from your smartphone or tablet to the big screen from virtually any device available.

There's a long list of live TV streaming services available to help you cut the cord and replace your traditional TV subscription. Each is different in important ways, and this guide will help you find the best one for you.

Jason Reitman, son of Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman, has secretly co-written a follow-up to the 1984 supernatural comedy. Filming begins this summer, but it's not clear if the original Ghostbusters will reprise their roles.

Steve Carell, Netflix, and The Office showrunner Greg Daniels are teaming up for Space Force, a workplace comedy poking fun at the Trump White House's plans to establish a sixth branch of the U.S. military.

With the eighth and final season looming, Game of Thrones fever has officially become a pandemic. Our list of all the relevant news and rumors will help make the wait more bearable, if you don't mind spoilers.

The Punisher is getting a second season on Netflix, with Jon Bernthal returning to play Marvel Comics' gun-toting antihero Frank Castle. Here's everything we know about season 2 of The Punisher so far.

John Wick: Chapter 3 -- Parabellum, the third installment of the wildly successful action series that stars Keanu Reeves as a deadly assassin forced out of retirement, hits theaters in May 2019. Here's everything we know about it so far.

Amazon Prime Video adds new titles each month that are available for free to all Prime members. Check out our list to find all the content hitting Amazon Prime Video in January and February, from new original series to classic films.

This week on Between the Streams, we'll be talking about the Netflix price rise, the first trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home, a new (and possibly very old) Ghostbusters movie, the latest from Netflix and Steve Carell, Glass, and more.